


trial by fire

by plotholes_and_paradoxes



Series: trial by fire [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula (Avatar) is A Good Sibling, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, POV Azula (Avatar), Protective Azula (Avatar), Young Azula, azula loves zuko more than she fears her father, azula takes zuko's place in the agni kai, good azula
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:34:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25364689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plotholes_and_paradoxes/pseuds/plotholes_and_paradoxes
Summary: Zuko is a Dum-Dum. But he's Azula's Dum-Dum, and no stupid general is going to hurt him.(Azula fights the Agni Kai in her brother's place.)
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: trial by fire [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837981
Comments: 27
Kudos: 873





	trial by fire

Zuko has always had a bleeding heart. So when he comes back from his first time in the war council, crying about young troops about to be sacrificed, Azula knows she has her work cut out for her. It takes Azula almost an hour to prod the full story out of him, questioning and threatening in equal measure. (Somehow, the fact that he has to fight an Agni Kai is less important to mention than a squadron of untrained soldiers.) 

Azula sighs. Her brother is a Dum-Dum. (But he’s her Dum-Dum, and no stupid general is going to hurt him.) 

“I will take your place in the Agni Kai,” she says, a glint in her eye. After all, Zuko’s her older brother. If he dishonors himself, he dishonors her too. Thus, she should be allowed to fight for both of their honor. If she looks forward to felling the man who made Zuko so upset, that's of nobody's concern but her. 

“Really?” Zuko looks up at her with watery eyes. He sits up straight, looking like a royal for once. “I don't need you to fight for me! I can fight!” 

Azula shakes her head. “Not well enough, Zuzu.” 

Azula is not often surprised. But when she gets to the location of the Agni Kai and sees her Father in the ring, she can’t keep a chill from gripping her spine. (Zuko would have refused to fight him. Zuko would have died.) 

She slides off her ceremonial robes, leaving her in just a thin red tunic and pants. Father shrugs off his own ceremonial robes, leaving his chest bare. 

Father doesn’t hesitate to throw fire at Azula. Why would he? She already upset him by taking Zuko’s place — she needs to fight well. She needs to prove that she has enough honor for the both of them. 

They dance around each other, red and blue fire clashing. If Azula wanted to, she could pretend that she was sparring with Father. (Ignoring, of course, that he had never sparred with her in his life. Watched her tutors and her, of course. Gave her foreboding advice after lessons, of course. Sparring? He was far too busy when he was just the second prince. And now that he’s the Fire Lord, he’s gotten colder and harder. Even Azula sees less praise than she used to.) 

Azula is good. No, she’s great. But Father is greater, he always is. Azula dodges a blast of fire but loses her footing. She’s on her knees, and her Father is above her, and she presses her face into the ground. 

She’s lost — which would never have happened had she fought the general she was supposed to fight — but she fought well. Father will not punish her, especially after she showed off her blue fire in front of so many nobles. She thinks she can see the shadow of a smile on his face. (A smile for Azula. Mother never smiled for Azula. Mother thought she was a monster. Father says being called a monster means she’s powerful. Being powerful is good.) 

There’s a scream in the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Zuko dodging past the guards. 

“No!” He screams. “Don’t hurt her.” 

Internally, Azula curses their fool of an uncle. He had one job. All he had to do was keep Zuko off the court. It’s his fault they’re in this mess to begin with - and he can't even keep Zuko from interfering with a sacred tradition. 

Ozai turns from Azula. “Your sister fought well,” he says. Azula feels a twinge of pride. She did this for Dum-Dum, of course. But the praise is an added bonus. 

“But you,” he says, striding towards Zuko. “You dishonored me. And now you dishonor Agni.” 

Zuko backs up, but the guards he dodged earlier grab his arms and force him onto his knees. 

“You will learn respect,” Father says, a wicked grin on his face. (Azula is glad that the grin is not for her.) “And suffering will be your teacher.” 

Father reaches a hand towards Zuko’s face, almost gentle, and Azula wonders if he’s going to hit Zuko. It wouldn't be the first time. Then his hand alights and Zuko screams, screams, screams. Azula has made Zuko scream before — once she pushed him out of the tree, not realizing the fall would break his arm. But she never made him scream like that. 

Azula is the youngest person to ever master blue fire. She is Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, third in line to the throne, and her brother is hers. Hers to hurt, not Father’s. (Her traitorous mind whispers: mine to protect, mine to protect, mine to protect.)

Azula knows that rushing her Father or begging him to stop would just result in him turning on her, too. She needs something that will take him down in one hit, something that will stop him from hurting something that is hers. 

It all happens in a few seconds, really. Azula has only seen the form twice, once performed by Father and once by Uncle Iroh. She aims her arm towards Father, lets the fire dance through her body. 

Lightning comes out of her fingertips. 

Ozai doesn’t expect it, because of course he doesn’t. He spent so much time training Azula (breaking her) that he forgot her mind is a complex web of loyalties and lies. And Zuko is weak and useless, but he’s never hurt Azula. (That has to count for something.) 

Father falls, and Azula wonders if he’s dead. That wasn’t her plan, of course, but it would make everything easier if he doesn’t wake up to punish the both of them. 

Zuko’s face is red and pink and burned, but the scar could have been worse. The doctors tell her that her quick actions saved his sight and hearing on the left side of his face. She stares at them, and tells them that if her brother dies she will kill them, and their eyes widen but they just bow their heads. Azula isn’t the second child of the second son anymore. She killed the Fire Lord. One day, she will be Fire Lord. 

Zuko is unconscious for a week. In that time, Azula calls off the troops that Zuko would have burned for. Iroh is named regent, and Azula has to wait seven long years for her rightful crown. (Perhaps, she thinks, the wait won’t be so bad. She has Zuko all to herself now, and she treats her toys better than Father did. Maybe she’ll even learn to like those stupid turtleducks.) 

Azula looks in the mirror, stares at her black hair that will one day wear a crown, and thinks that Mother would be proud.

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a oneshot - but I can't stop thinking about it. I actually outlined a couple more stories last night instead of sleeping. Stay tuned!


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